Hungarian author wins Man Booker International Prize

London: Hungarian author Laszlo Krasznahorkai has won Britain's prestigious Man Booker International prize for his achievement in fiction as he edged out India's Amitav Ghosh and eight others to bag the top literary award.

The award ceremony was held at the Victoria and Albert Museum in London on Tuesday night, and Krasznahorkai was chosen from a list of 10 contenders from around the world.

Krasznahorkai, born in 1954, gained considerable recognition with his numerous works, such as "Satantango" and "The Melancholy of Resistance". He was awarded the highest award of the Hungarian state, the Kossuth Prize.

Winning the Man Booker International Prize means he would be given 60,000 British pounds (around $93,000). A total of 10 writers, including Lebanese writer Hoda Barakat, Maryse Conde from Guadeloupe, Mia Couto from Mozambique, Libyan Ibrahim al-Koni, and Marlene van Niekerk from South Africa, entered the finalists' list.

All the five authors and Laszlo Krasznahorkai were from countries that were included on the list for the first time. Four other writers on the list were Argentinean writer Cesar Aira, Indian writer Amitav Ghosh, Fanny Howe from the US, and Alain Mabanckou from the Republic of Congo.

Different from the annual Man Booker Prize, the Man Booker International Prize aims to recognise a writer's achievements in fiction, and not just a single book.

The winner of the highly anticipated Man Booker Prize 2015, one of the most important literary awards in the world, will be announced in October.